Staged (Exodus End 3)

“Are you plotting to have horses outlawed for ruining our selfie?”

“Nope,” she said. “I’ve got no beef with horses.”

“You never have a beef with anyone, Ms. Vegetarian.”

She giggled. “That was totally a dad joke.”

He perked up and slid a hand down to cover her belly. “Does that mean you’re pregnant?”

“No.”

“Do you want to be?”

She covered his hand with hers and pressed it more firmly into her stomach. “Maybe someday.”

“With my baby?”

“Maybe someday,” she said again with a dreamy smile. She turned back to her screen and corrected a typo in the picture’s description before posting it.

“I still have a tofu with your ex-wife,” she said.

“A tofu?”

“Since I can’t have a beef with her.”

He laughed. “Now that was a dad joke.”

“We should let people know that you never cheated on Bianca. She cheated, not you. That divorce? Her idea.”

“It’s in the past, baby. Let it go.”

Roux shook her head. “I’m taking her down. She doesn’t deserve any consideration from you. And then when she’s curled up in the fetal position crying with her disgusting sister, I’m going after Sam.”

Steve cringed. “Max and Dare will not be happy if anything we do messes up their legal battles.”

“I can wait.”

“Remind me never to do you wrong, baby.”

“It’s not doing me wrong that you have to worry about. It’s doing someone I love wrong that I can never forgive.”

“Your sisters are all divine goddesses!” he declared. “And your mother should be sainted.”

She nodded sharply. “Agreed.”

He slid his hand into his pocket, the three small boxes inside impossible to ignore. He’d meant to wait until they were taking a romantic boat ride through Venice—their next stop on the tour—but he’d never been a patient man. He knelt before her, removing the three boxes from his pocket and setting them in a row across her bare thigh. The pink one said maybe on top, the white one said no, and the red yes. She drew in a sharp breath, and her gaze darted up to meet his.

“Steve?”

“I’m sure someone will say it’s too soon for this. I just hope it isn’t you.” He took her hand in his. His heart was thudding so hard, he felt light-headed. Where was his rock star cool when he needed it? “The only thing that could possibly top having you at my side is being able to call you my beloved wife while you’re there.”

Her eyes widened. “Steve?”

“You are everything I’ve waited for my entire life—with uncharacteristic patience, I might add—and everything I want for the rest of my years. Roux—”

Her eyes widened further. “Steve?”

He kissed her knuckles, offering her strength when he probably should have saved what little remained for himself.

“Roux,” he tried again, “will you make me even happier than you’ve already made me and marry me?”

She reached for the red box so quickly that the other two boxes tumbled from her leg. She dropped out of the chair and tossed herself against his chest, smashing his lips into his teeth as she kissed him breathless.

“Yes?” Even though she’d snatched up the yes box, he had to hear her say it.

“I picked the red one, didn’t I? Yes, I’ll marry you, Steve. A million times yes.”

“I picked the red one too.” But he was referring to his favorite member of Baroquen, not a box. Smiling, he took the ring box from her trembling hand. When he opened it, she gasped at the two-carat diamond sparkling at her from within. She held her left hand out and allowed him to slip the ring onto her third finger.

“It’s huge, Steve,” she said, holding the perfect princess cut diamond to catch the light. “How will I ever be able to play my keyboard with all this weight on my finger?”

“Then be glad you weren’t indecisive,” he said. He retrieved the pink maybe box from beneath the table and showed her the three-carat ring inside. The entire band was also covered with diamonds. In the box was a sad-faced puppy dog picture on a tiny card that read, “Please.”

“I knew I’d made the right choice,” she said. “That ring is a tad excessive.”

She picked up the white no box and opened it. There was a cheap plastic ring in that one. The card read “You lose. Try again.”

She laughed and hugged him again, staring at her hand and the new diamond over his shoulder. “I’m so glad I won.”

“Nuh-uh,” he said. “I’m the winner.”

“Me. I win.”

“Not having it, Roux. I won fair and square.”

“We’ll just have to call this one a tie.”

He took her elbows in his hands—knowing damn well he was the real winner, but not wanting to argue—and urged her to her feet. Kissing her, he slowly walked her backward to the bed. He predicted a winning streak in his near future. He was going to make her come first this morning even if it meant tying a knot in his dick.

A knock at the door made him groan aloud. He’d checked the schedule; he had two hours before they had to be on the plane to Venice.

“Go away, Butch!” he called before lowering his voice to say to Roux, “I’m about to get busy with my fiancée.”

That did have a nice ring to it.

“Butch no here,” a very familia

r voice said. “Housekeeping! You need towels? You need lotion and tissues?”

“Isn’t that Zach?” Roux asked, giving Steve a little shove.

She knew how worried Steve had been about him. He hadn’t heard much from Zach since he’d dashed off at the airport. Steve had even tried searching on the Internet for any leakage of Enrique’s private getaway with a mysterious lover. He hadn’t found a single clue as to Zach’s whereabouts. If he hadn’t gotten a text a week ago that said Knock it off, I’m fine, Steve would have filed a missing person’s report by now.

He kissed Roux once more—offering her the promise of later in a heated glance—before rushing to open the door.

“You have some seriously bad timing, man,” Steve said, noting that his friend looked thin and tired, not like he’d been enjoying a relaxing beach vacation with his lover.

“If I waited until you weren’t having sex or about to have sex, I’d never—”

His words were cut off by Steve jerking him into a tight hug and pounding him on the back.

“I’ve missed you.”

Zach hugged and pounded on him in return. “I’m not sure how. You’ve been having way too much fun without your third wheel. It’s been great to see you so happy.”

Steve pulled away to squint at him. “How could you know . . .”

“Instagram,” they said in unison.

“Brilliant move, by the way,” Zach said. “I hear a certain tabloid is going down fast. Just don’t tell me that perfect couple stuff is all staged. I don’t think my broken heart could take it.”

“It’s real,” Steve assured him. He backed into the room. Zach followed him inside and the door shut behind him. “So you haven’t been enjoying a romantic two weeks with Enriq—”

Zach lifted a hand. “Don’t say his name.”

“Sorry.”

“Hey, Zach,” Roux said, her voice soft and full of concern. “We’ve been worried.”

“I needed some time to work things out. Been putting miles on my new motorcycle on the backroads.”

“That sounds nice.”

She squeezed his arm, and he grabbed her wrist to hold her hand up in the air. Her new engagement ring caught the morning sunlight streaming in through the window.